The March 21 Apple event keynote has ended but if you weren’t able to watch the live stream yourself, no worries, we’ve got you covered! iDigitalTimes posted live updates of every iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch announcement the company revealed starting at 10 am PT or 1 pm ET. Check out the live blog below, or for more in-depth coverage of specific devices and updates, see the following related articles:
- Apple Announces Smaller 9.7-Inch iPad Pro, Starts At $599
- Apple iPhone SE Unveiled: Preorders Begin March 24, Start At $399
- Apple TV Update: Dictation, Folders Available With Today's tvOS Update
- Apple Watch Price Drop, New Bands Announced At Townhall Event
- Tim Cook On Apple Vs. FBI: We Did Not Expect To Be 'At Odds With Our Own Government'
Apple March 21 Event Keynote Live Blog
1pm - Tim Cook Takes the stage!
- Cook: "Normally we don't spend a lot of time looking back, but yes we are about to celebrate Apple's 40th birthday on April 1st."
- There are now more than 1 billion Apple devices in use.
1:03 pm - Cook launches into encryption talk
- Cook: "We built the iPhone for you, our customers, and we know it is a deeply personal device."
- Cook: "We need to decide, as a nation, how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy."
- Cook: "We owe it to our customers and we owe it to our country. This is an issue that impacts all of us, and we will not shrink from this responsibility."
1:05 pm - Environment talk
- Two years ago, Apple has a goal to reach100 percent renewable energy. It is now at 93 percent renewable energy source use in its facilities
- Apple has built a 40-megawatt solar farm in China, and it doesn't interfere with Yak ranchers in the area.
- Solar panels in Singapore
- Using less packaging - 93 percent recycled materials
1:13pm - Tim Cook Talks Health
- Jeff Williams starts discussing Research Kit that lets researchers gather data from different iDevices.
- Uses a Parkinson study as example
- Video showing impact of a study on Autism. They want to eventually create a home-based screening tool. The tool uses the device camera to screen a child's reaction to items on the screen, then analyzes those reactions for behaviors of autism.
- There's an Apple Watch app that is trying to help find a predictor for seizures for Epilepsy.
- A new CareKit app for Parkinson's disease will debut so institutions can use it to help patients individualize their treatments. It will help patients track/be aware of things like the effectiveness of the drugs or exercise regimen they're using.
- CareKit may also be used for post-surgery regimens.
- CareKit can do a lot of things like track symptoms use the accelerometer to test your range of motion and more. Users can choose to share their data with their family and doctors. This allows doctors to update users' care plans right from the data received.
- CareKit will be available in April and will be open source.
1:24pm - Apple Watch Updates
- Cook - "About a third of our Apple Watch wearers regularly change the bands."
- New woven Nylon Bands announced with four-layer construction. Showcased blue, yellow, black and pink.
- There are also new colors for the sport, leather bands and Milanese loop band gets space black
- Price of Apple Watch reduced to $299!
1:27 pm - Apple TV
- 5,000 apps now on Apps store for Apple TV
- Siri can search more apps than it used to
- Folders coming to Apple TV
- Live Photos coming to tvOS today
1:30 pm - New iPhone SE Announced
- Last year Apple sold 30 million 4-inch iPhones. Obviously, people love them, so they are introducing a new one: iPhone SE
- It will come in all the colors including rose gold.
- It has a 64-bit A9 processor and the M9 motion coprocessor. It's as powerful as the iPhone 6S
- 12-megapixel camera.
- Starting price for iPhone SE - $399 for 16GB model, $499 for 64GB model
- iPhone SE Release Date: March 31
1:39 pm - iOS 9.3 Update
- Night Shift mode announced, removes the blue from your display so it "may help you sleep better."
- You can password-protect any notes in the notes app
- "Top stories" added to Apple News
- CarPlay will have a better Apple Music and Maps app.
- New education features -- namely multi-user support
1:44pm iPad Pro
- new smaller 9.7-inch display iPad Pro coming, weights one pound.
- 40 percent less reflective than an iPad Air 2.
- 25% brighter than an iPad Air 2.
- It'll support Night Shift
- Adds True Tone Display that measures the color temperature to the ambient light and adjusts the screen to match.
- Four speakers. A9X processor.
- It has a custom-sized Smart Keyboard.
- New lightning adapters: SD card reader and a powered USB card reader.
- You can use it with an ethernet adapter or a microphone.
- 12-megapixel camera on this iPad Pro - gives you same photos and video a iPhone SE
- 4 different finishes including rose gold
- New 9.7 iPad Pro starting price: $599 for 32 GB
- 9.7 iPad Pro Release Date: Orders start March 24th. Available March 31st.
Apple Event Rumors: What To Expect
Apple Event Rumor #1: Smaller iPhone SE
The trend in smartphones for a while was bigger is better but now Apple seems to be taking a step backward as rumor has it, the next iPhone will be a small one. According to a number of analysts, Apple is expected to announce a new 4-inch iPhone, which would bear the name iPhone SE . The last 4-inch iPhones to release were the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The iPhone 5S bore the original boxy iPhone shape while the iPhone 5C adopted a smoother curvier body type.
The new iPhone SE is rumored to have all the features of an iPhone 6 but with the classic body of the iPhone 5S. Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade to that model as I find the iPhone 6 a bit too large for my taste and I was always a fan of the iPhone 5 shape.
The device is expected to house the A9 processor, 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. It will also reportedly include the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and NFC for Apple Pay. 3D Touch, however, will not be present. The iPhone SE will reportedly come in four colors: gray, silver, gold, and rose gold. Price of the device is a complete mystery, though 9 to 5 Mac believes it’ll run around $450 for a starter model.
Apple Event Rumor #2: Smaller iPad Pro
Last fall Apple debuted its 12.9-inch iPad Pro and while it brought an array of attractive features, some still feel it’s a bit too large for practical use. For this reason, it is rumored that Apple will be releasing a smaller 9.7-inch model of the iPad Pro .
While some might wonder how the smaller iPad Pro would different from an iPad Air, the difference would be in those added features the iPad Pro brings, including the four speaker system, stylus support, added RAM and a speedier processor. The smaller iPad pro would also likely include the 128GB storage option and the attaching keyboard case iPad. 9to5Mac believes the new iPad Pro could go $599 and up, prices increase of $100 more over the base model of the iPad Air 2.
Apple Event Rumor #3 New Apple Watch Accessories
Apple watch is coming up on its one-year birthday and so it’s high time Apple did something special to celebrate. While a new model of the device is not expected, a new range of Apple Watch bands is. The bands will reportedly include new color options and possibly new materials as well.
There’s also a decent chance we could see an updated firmware for the watchOS – version 2.2. The new update would include an enhanced version of Apple Maps and the ability to sync several watches to the same iPhone.
Apple Event Rumor #4: iOS 9.3 Could Release
Apple built up a good bit of hype in January over the upcoming iOS 9.3 firmware update, and while we’ve yet to see it drop, today seems like as good a day as any for it to happen. The update, if dropped will include a wide array of new features like Night Mode and the ability to lock the Notes app. It will also bring some powerful new classroom tool for teachers like a multiuser mode so teachers can create multiple profiles for students on a given iPad. Teachers would also be able to launch specific apps on a classroom of iPads from his or her own device and have controls to check student progress on their device from across the room.
Apple Event Rumor #5: Updated Encryption
With the battle over decrypting the San Bernardino shooter’s phone still raging, there are some rumors that Apple could release an update the would strengthen the encryption on their devices so that the company would have no way of aiding the government, if compelled, in hacking an Apple device. The company has been quite vocal about its position on user privacy and has received support from numerous American tech companies as well as organizations like the EFF.
That’s pretty much all the Apple March 21 Event rumors to date. Stay tuned when the event begins as we will be providing live updates above of everything Apple announces.
